Guillen: no suspension necessary

July 26, 2006|MARK GONZALES Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said emphatically Monday that Major League Baseball should not suspend him for expressing his displeasure after Jon Garland failed to hit Texas' Ian Kinsler in a retaliatory move Sunday. "Why?" Guillen barked. "I do my job. I (get) suspended for something he didn't even get done? I did talk to Garland about the situation. I make it clear. I won't wait for two months or until I see you in spring training or until I see you next year. We get over it and move on." Garland threw two pitches behind Kinsler and received a warning, half an inning after Vicente Padilla nailed Alex Cintron. Guillen chewed out Garland in the dugout. "I was a little upset about it," Guillen said. "I won't say I overreacted. I would react the same way with all my players. If I do it to (Sean) Tracey, I will do it to anybody. I am not afraid of my players." Said general manager Ken Williams of Guillen: "I wouldn't be surprised if I have a message on his desk (from MLB). He's like Dennis the Menace." Tracey, who was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte to make room for Mike MacDougal, received a glowing review from Guillen. Masking problems Catcher Chris Widger left a mask for the team, as well as pitching coach Don Cooper and batting coach Greg Walker, to autograph one day after he was designated for assignment. Widger had expressed disappointment over being singled out for lack of preparation, but Cooper clarified what was said. "You're making a move because the job wasn't getting done," Cooper said. "He wasn't really hitting the ball that well, and there were some preparation issues in that. He came and asked me. My comment was, from time to time I have to go and track him down, and that's the long and short of it." Extra innings Newly acquired Sandy Alomar Jr. said there is no bad blood between him and A.J. Pierzynski over an incident in 2003 when Pierzynski, who then played for Minnesota, flipped his bat and hit Alomar on the shin guard. "A.J. and I talk all the time, and some little incident is not going to bring back memories of the bad times," Alomar said. ... Reliever Dustin Hermanson remains a long shot to return to the Sox, Williams said. Hermanson's pitches in his rehab have been clocked in the middle to high 80s. ... Sox minor-leaguer Wascar Segura was suspended for 50 games for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.